I'm not sure what you mean by that. I think a regular Premiere has two tuners (possibly within one chip), each of which can tune either OTA or cable frequencies. Presumably the new 4-tuner models use a different tuner chip (maybe 2 per chip or maybe 4 per chip) which for some reason cannot be set to use OTA frequencies. Or maybe the decoder chip(s) those models use can't decode 8-VSB encoded signals. In any case, TiVo should be able to design in as many tuner chips (dual or quad or whatever) as they want, as long as they write the software to juggle that many program steams and as long as the hard drives can handle all the data streams.

My understanding is the that main DVR chipset for all the Premieres comes from Broadcom, and it can handle 4 inputs from tuners.

The Premiere uses a pair of QAM digital cable hardware tuners and a pair of ATSC/NTSC OTA/NTSC analog cable hardware tuners connected to that chip and blends them together in software to make it act like two tuners which can each tune from any source. (I believe, if TiVo wanted to, they could, with a software change, allow you to record up to four things at once with a normal Premeire, but because of the limited hardware nature of the tuners 2 would have to be from cable and 2 from over-the-air/analog. What they can't do with software is make the ATSC tuner record from digital cable (QAM))

The Premiere 4 and Premier 4XL/Elite have four QAM tuners connected to that same DVR chipset but software exposes all four tuners.

If someone came out with cheap hardware that could tune from ATSC/NTSC/QAM then TiVo might well offer a quad tuner box that could record from any source. Or if Broadcom's next DVR chipset offered 6 or 8 tuner inputs then TiVo might expand their options that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoxInPHX

Has anyone tried using jmfs live on an Elite/XL4? Does it work?

From what I understand the JMFS appears to understand the Elite/XL4 drive, but since the Premieres can only support up to 2 TB in a single drive it's kind of pointless to use JMS because you can't actually upgrade it's stock drive.

But JMFS should work to upgrade a Premiere 4's drive with one up to 2 TB.

Interesting. We currently have a Tivo HD with one Comcast M card. Can we transfer the M card to a new Tivo 4 ourselves, or does this require a truck roll?

Thanks!

Kupe

YMMV, but you should be able to move the CC to the new box yourself and, once you accomplish set-up of the new box, it should receive all your non-premium authorized channels without pairing. The card will have to be paired to the new box for premium channels and VOD or other interactive cable services. But, barring complications, re-pairing should not require more than a telephone call to Comcast (1-877-405-2298).

YMMV, but you should be able to move the CC to the new box yourself and, once you accomplish set-up of the new box, it should receive all your non-premium authorized channels without pairing. The card will have to be paired to the new box for premium channels and VOD or other interactive cable services. But, barring complications, re-pairing should not require more than a telephone call to Comcast (1-877-405-2298).

But honestly, it might be worth paying for a truck roll. Especially if you're a first-timer. Cable cards can be flakey and a tech will usually have more than one card on hand, or can quickly get another card, if the initial card being installed is bad.

But honestly, it might be worth paying for a truck roll. Especially if you're a first-timer. Cable cards can be flakey and a tech will usually have more than one card on hand, or can quickly get another card, if the initial card being installed is bad.

I couldn't disagree more on this statement. Truck rolls are rarely worth anything except more aggrevation. Just follow the directions included with TiVo, update the software via Guided Setup (without cards), take a look at the info on-line concerning installing cablecards and then call the activation phone number.

__________________Comcast, Cox, TW, Charter and BHN are cabal companies.
(That is not a spelling error. Check the definition.)

I couldn't disagree more on this statement. Truck rolls are rarely worth anything except more aggrevation. Just follow the directions included with TiVo, update the software via Guided Setup (without cards), take a look at the info on-line concerning installing cablecards and then call the activation phone number.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronwt

Yes. A truck roll should be a last resort.

While you're probably both correct. I've read plenty of horror stories about having to go back to the store multiple times to get a cable card that works correctly. Really sucks if you live a good distance away from the nearest location.

While you're probably both correct. I've read plenty of horror stories about having to go back to the store multiple times to get a cable card that works correctly. Really sucks if you live a good distance away from the nearest location.

The same thing can happen with a truck roll. They end up having only one or two cable cards with them and have to make a return visit.

Correct Then can not require that. My local company tried to pull that with me.. I contacted the FCC and now have a letter from the cable companies lawyer saying they screwed up

My local Time-Warner people found a way around that. They let me pick up the cableCard for self-install but said they don't keep Tuning Adapters in stock for pickup, they are all on the trucks and someone would drop one by. Of course, when the truck showed up they said it was their stock they'd signed for and couldn't release it unless they installed it, and charged me $35 for the pleasure. I'm still disputing that one.

My local Time-Warner people found a way around that. They let me pick up the cableCard for self-install but said they don't keep Tuning Adapters in stock for pickup, they are all on the trucks and someone would drop one by. Of course, when the truck showed up they said it was their stock they'd signed for and couldn't release it unless they installed it, and charged me $35 for the pleasure. I'm still disputing that one.